Legend says that chess has once been played on 100 fields. Persian writer Abdul Kasim Firdusi was one of the greatest epic poets in the history of the world's poetry. In his famous epic poem Shah-name (Book of Kings) he describes the battle between two Indian princes. Poet talks about a chess duel, which was played by rules of that period. The great poem says that »the square table was made« and that »it was covered with hundred fields of victory«.
Files
All fields marked with the letter "a" (and numbers 1 to 10) are positioned on the vertical line on the left side of the chessboard. These 10 fields are called a-file. In general all vertical rows of squares are called files. Therefore there are 10 files on the chessboard a-,b-,c-,d-,e-,f-,g-,h-,i-, and j-file.
Ranks
All fields marked with the number 1 are positioned on the lower horizontal line. The next rank is marked with the number 2, etc.
Marking of the fields
In order to follow the movements of the pieces every filed on the chessboard has its constant marking. These markings are simple and logical, using numbers from 1 to 10 and first 10 letters of the international alphabet. Each field has its own letter and its own number.
The game of Chess'3 is played between two opponents by moving pieces on a square board called a "chessboard".
The chessboard is composed of 100 equal squares, alternately light (the "white" squares) and dark (the "black" squares).
The chessboard is placed between two opponents in such way that the near corner to the left of each player is white.
Diagonals
The lines of squares of the same colour, touching corner to corner are called "diagonals". Min. 2 and max. 10 fields can lie on each diagonal.
The initial position of the pieces on the chessboard: white pieces are positioned on the 1 st and 2 nd rank, dark pieces are positioned in the 9 th and 10 th rank.
The game is played by the two opponents, each with his set of pieces, white or dark. The set is composed of 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Civilians, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights and 10 Pawns.
The player with the white pieces commences the game. When his move has been completed, his opponent has the move. So the players alternate in making one move at the time until the game is completed.
Next: page 3.
Written by Redzo Kolakovic.
WWW page created: August 7, 2005.
The pieces are light and dark coloured objects, which are used in process of the game. They have to be graphically and formally distinctive, especially during the chess notation and in the displays of chess games. The pieces can be made out of wood, bones, stone, metal, plastics, glass, etc.
